This resource remains available under SCIE’s commitment to share knowledge and information but please be alert to changes in policy or practice since publication. This resource was last updated in June 2007.

Implementing the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004

SCIE Guide 9

Published October 2005

Updated August 2007

About this guide

Context

Around six million people in the UK provide care for a relative, friend or neighbour in need of support on an unpaid basis. The lives of carers are varied, but many people share similar concerns and experiences. Many carers try to juggle care with paid work and some care for more than one person.

The government has increasingly recognised the
contribution that carers make to society and
has passed legislation that acknowledges their
needs and entitles them to an assessment and
services in their own right (1, 2).
In 2004, the government introduced the Carers
(Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. The Act seeks
to ensure that carers are identified and informed
of their rights, that their needs for education,
training, employment and leisure are taken into
consideration and that public bodies recognise
and support carers.

The Act is an acknowledgement that carers are
entitled to the same life chances as others and
should not be socially excluded as a result of
their caring role. Responsibilities for supporting
carers need to be agreed across organisational
boundaries to ensure that carers are recognised
and supported by the whole of society and not
just by social services.

Local authorities will face different challenges
in implementing the Act, depending on the complexity
of local statutory and non-statutory networks,
the demographic characteristics of the local
population and geographical considerations. Planning
on a local level is essential to ensure that
such factors are taken into consideration and
local needs are properly met.

The Act applies in England and Wales to:

carers who provide or intend to provide a substantial amount of care on a regular basis for another individual aged over 18

people with parental responsibility for
a disabled child, who provide or intend to
provide a substantial amount of care on a regular
basis for that child (3).

Carers' and 'care workers

The word 'carer' refers to people who provide
unpaid care to a relative, friend or neighbour
who is in need of support because of mental or
physical illness, old age or disability. It does
not include people who work as volunteers or
paid carers; these people should be referred
to as 'care workers' or, better still, this
confusion could be minimised by the use within
the sector of the term ‘support worker’ to
describe those who are
paid to provide care.

It is also important to remember that some people
who use social services are also 'carers'. For
example, many people with learning disabilities
provide support to their ageing parents.

Purpose

The purpose of this guide is to offer quick and easy access to information that will aid the implementation of the 2004 Act alongside previous related legislation.

The guide explores a number of areas and you will see these listed on the left hand menu. For each topic area the guide includes:

key research and policy findings

ideas from practice

links to further information.

It also includes related areas of practice not specific to the Act that are useful to its implementation. It does not replace any previous guidance but makes reference to it where appropriate and should be used alongside it.

Previous policy and practice guidance is still
relevant and is available on the Department
of Health website. Related law
and standards are comprehensively covered in
'Carers and their rights: The law relating to
carers'
( 4 ).

This guide is designed primarily for social care managers and practitioners responsible for the implementation of the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. The essential steps and many of the practice points throughout the guide will be useful to those responsible for strategic planning and commissioning. Practitioners will need the support of senior and line managers and an appropriate framework to enable them to help carers.

The guide may also be useful for carers, people
who use social services and professionals from
other organisations that support carers. This
guide also aims to assist other authorities (e.g.
housing, education and health) in developing
their methods for acknowledging, including and
supporting carers.